Twilight of the Dead
by akane-soir86
Summary: My first story, a Saki / Living Dead Series crossover, taking place at the same time as Night of the Living Dead. Post-individuals, semi-alternate universe and semi-original characters.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Saki or any of the films in the Living Dead Series - Night (1968), Dawn (1978), Day (1985), Land (2005), Diary (2007) and Survival of the Dead (2009).

- Saki is property of Ritz Kobayashi and GONZO.

- The Living Dead Series is property of George A. Romero.

**~ PROLOGUE ~**

(Ghost Town)

It was quarter past seven. The sky was darkening. A second year high school student was riding along a quiet road that leads from Kiyosumi High School. The sixteen-year-old sang along to Leatherwolf's 'Alone In The Night', which was playing on his MP3 player, silently. Street lights flickered on as he passed a canal and into the town he lived in all his life. However, as soon as reached the small town, he noticed something was not right. He turned his head left and right. There was not a single person down the streets. He felt a tingle of uneasiness surging through his body.

_"Funny..."_ He thought. _"Normally, there will still be people around at this time..."_

As he rode along the shopping district, the student saw that the shops were empty too. He swallowed hard.

_"What the hell is going on here?"_ He thought to himself again, the feeling of uneasiness growing stronger. _"Where did everybody go?"_

As he rode out from the shopping district and into the residential area, the student spotted someone walking up ahead in the dimly lit streets. The silhouette was that of a man. He was relieved to finally see someone else in town. Something inside of him told him to be cautious on approaching the man, but he brushed the thought off. The student pressed onto the brake handles of his bicycle to slow it down, before pulling to a stop about five meters away from the man. He got down from his bicycle and propped it up. Taking off his headphones, he jogged after the man.

"HEY!" He called out. No response.

"HEY!" He called out again. Still no response.

"HEY!" He called out yet again. This time, the man stopped right in his tracks and slowly turned to face the student.

The sixteen-year-old stopped about two meters away from him. He was wearing a red-and-black polo shirt, black slacks and white track shoes. He wore a white apron over and had a matching hat. The student immediately recognized it as uniform worn by employees working for the sushi restaurant in the shopping district. However, the student noticed something was not right. His eyes widened with shock and horror.

"My God!" He gasped. "What happened to your arm?!"

The man had a bloody stump where his left arm should be. Bits of flesh and strands of arteries hung loosely from the bloody stump, quivering at every movement. His bone jutted out from the stump. Blood trickled from the wound, down to the bone, and finally dripped from the sharp tip of the broken bone leaving a puddle of thick, red liquid on the road.

_"What happened to him?!"_ The student thought. _"His arm doesn't look like it was cut off! It looks more like it was ripped off!"_

The student looked up at the man's face. He had a pained expression. His eyes rolled upwards and his mouth was gaping widely.

"Sir?! What happened to you?!" The student demanded. "I'll call for help..."

The student pulled out his cell phone and dialed for an ambulance. Then, without him noticing, the man shuffled towards the student slowly, his right arm reaching out, his hand gnarled into claws . An almost mournful moan escaped from his gaping mouth. The line could not get through. He dialed again. The line still could not get through.

"SHIT!" The student cursed under his breath. Frustrated, and trying to control himself from panicking, he decided to come up with another option.

"Sir, there's a clinic in this town," The student told the man. "I'll take you th-"

Before the student could even finish, the man lunged at him suddenly, growling like a wild animal, his pained expression turned into rage. The man grabbed hold of the student's arm in a vice-like grip. With his mouth wide opened, he prepared to sink his teeth into the student's left shoulder.

"HEY! WHAT THE FUCK?!" The student yelled, completely caught off guard, shocked at the amount of strength the man possessed.

"WHAT TH-" The student violently shoved the man to the ground. "GET BACK!!!"

The man, or rather, the ghoul, stumbled backwards before falling back-first onto the ground with a thud. With a sickening moan, the creature got back up to its feet slowly, and shuffled towards the student again.

_"Shit!"_ The student gritted his teeth and looked around. _"Why the fuck is he attacking me?!"_

He spied on a lead pipe, which was lying a short distance away from him, on the ground. As he bent down to pick it up, the ghoul lunged at him again, clamping his right hand tightly onto the student's left shoulder and tried biting him again. The student swiftly brought his left elbow up and smashed the creature in its jaw. The ghoul staggered backwards with the bottom half of its face caved in, falling onto its back again. Holding on tightly to his pipe, the student approached the ghoul as it slowly sat up and reluctantly raised his weapon. The one-armed creature struggled to get back on its feet, its animal-like snarls making the student sick to his stomach.

"Die, motherfucker!" The student swung his pipe with full strength, knocking the ghoul's head off its shoulders. The head rolled to a stop a few meters away. However, its eyes were still rolling in their sockets and its mouth was still trying to bite. A pool of blood formed under the still moving head. Beads of sweat trickled down the student's forehead. A chill ran down his spine as he backed away from the motionless body on the ground, eyes still fixed on the creature's severed head.

_"No... No... NO!!! This isn't happening!!! Its head's off its body, dammit!!!"_ The student swallowed hard as he took a few steps back.

Then, he heard footsteps coming from behind him. Slow, shuffling footsteps. He turned and saw more creatures shambling in the streets, drawn out by the noises he made during the struggle. They were all moaning. The same sickening, spine-tingling moan as the ghoul with the missing arm. The sound rose until it became a sonic equivalent of biting into an apple. It made the student nervous and queasy. The moaning mob seemed to be aware of his presence and began advancing slowly towards him. The ghoul closest to him, a male high school student of about his age in black school uniform, lunged at him with a growl. The student reacted quickly, holding onto both ends of his lead pipe and shoved it against the creature's chest, knocking it backwards. It shambled forward again. The student swung his pipe onto the pressure point of its left shoulder, but the blow didn't have any affect. He swung his weapon again, this time onto its right shoulder. Again, the blow didn't have any effect. He rammed the tip of his pipe against the creature's gut in an attempt to knock its wind out. The didn't phase it one bit. He swung his pipe again, this time at the side of the ghoul's head. It fell down and got back up slowly.

_"Damn! What the fuck are these things?!_" The student gritted his teeth as it got back to its feet.

Gripping his pipe tightly, he swung it at the side of its head once again. A loud, sickening crack sounded good under the impact and the creature dropped to its knees and onto the ground, blood seeping from where it got hit. The ghoul twitched on the ground for a few seconds before finally lying motionless. He looked at the other ghouls homing in on his presence. Not taking any chances, he ran into an intersection with the creatures pursuing him slowly.

**Author's Notes:** The events of this story takes place at the same time as Night of the Living Dead. Take note that the films in the Living Dead Series DID NOT take place in any specific year. As the sets and costume make clear, each film is set in the time that it was made - and yet not. The events of Dawn of the Dead (1978) happen weeks after those of Night of the Living Dead, which was released a decade before. The events of Day of the Dead (1985) occur only months after the second film. Only three years separate the events of the first film and the fourth, Land of the Dead (2005). Diary of the Dead (2007), the fifth film, takes place at the same time as Night of the Living Dead.

- In Romero's series, (albeit few theories) the cause of the "zombie" epidemic was never explained.

- In Romero's series, anyone who dies (unless by damage to the brain) will become a "zombie".


	2. Chapter 1

**~ CHAPTER 1 ~**

(Sound of Death)

**Mako's Maid Cafe - Friday - 8:25 PM**

"It was a fun game." The pot-bellied, middle-aged man stood up and stretched. "You girls were really good." He added, impressed by their skills.

Saki and Nodoka exchanged looks and giggled softly. It was Friday night. The both of them had decided to help Mako out in her maid cafe, once again wearing those embarrassing maid outfits. Blue and white for Saki, pink and white for Nodoka. The last time they were asked to help out in the cafe, they got beaten down by a professional Mahjong player, Yasuko Fujita. It turned out to be a well-thought-out plan by their club president, Hisa, to let them both experience defeat and giving them the motivation to improve on their playing skills. After going for a training camp, their club went to national qualifying tournament, representing Kiyosumi High School for the first time and winning it. They eventually won the individuals and earned their place in the nationals, which will be starting next week. The both of them were excited, but at the same time, nervous. They remembered the promise they made before the qualifying tournament of not only going to the nationals but winning it as well. From that day onwards, the both of them became very close to one another, so much so, they started calling each other by their given names during their second training camp where three other schools, Ryuumonbunchi, Kazekoshi and Tsuruga were also invited.

"Well, we have to go now." His balding friend said to the two girls who had won against them easily. "Hope to play against the both of you again soon." He smiled.

"We'll be glad to." Saki and Nodoka said in unison, bowing to the two middle-aged men.

They sniggered at each other upon seeing Nodoka's big, round bosoms bounce slightly as she bowed. She knew what was going on and blushed without saying a word. The two men paid for their meals and left the cafe. A car was heard starting up and driving off. Mako looked around the cafe, there were a few customers left. She walked up to Saki and Nodoka, who had already left the Mahjong table. They noticed Mako had a worried look on her face as she was looking at the customers in the cafe.

"Mako-senpai? Is anything wrong?" Saki asked her senior, concerned. Mako looked at Saki for few seconds, pushed her thick glasses up and smiled.

"No. It's nothing, really." Mako said. "It's just that I find it strange that we don't have a lot of customers today. It's Friday. We usually get more customers."

Saki looked around. Mako was right. There were indeed very few customers. Mako made a good point when she mentioned that there should be more customers on Fridays since the weekends would start the following day. In fact, she noticed that customers stopped coming in at around 8:00 PM.

_"Strange..."_ She thought. _"Could it be the new mall they built in town? Come to think of it, people have been going there more often since the day it was completed..."_

But still, that did not explain why customers had stopped coming in after 8:00 PM.

_"Is there some sort of festival being held in town?"_ She thought. _"Its not likely, since the summer festival was a few days ago."_

Saki brushed the thought off and continued helping out in the cafe. She had something better to think about - the national tournament, which will begin on Monday. It was, perhaps, her only chance to reunite with her older sister, Teru Miyanaga. Even though she learned that Teru denied her existance, Saki was still determined to not only reunite with her, but to play against her as well. It was all she ever dreamed of every time she fell asleep. She looked at her closest friend, Nodoka, cleaning up the table of customers who had just left. Saki turned to look at Mako, who was behind the counter. Cheerfully, she closed her eyes and smiled to herself.

_"We're all in this together!"_ She thought.

It was time for the cafe to close. All the customers had left. The girls helped one other clean up the cafe. After finishing their duties, the kitchen staff left the cafe. Lights were turned off and the front door was locked. Still in their working uniforms, the girls walked down the quiet road, on their way to the Mahjong club which was located quite a distance away, but not too far, from the cafe. Saki remembered that Hisa wanted them to drop by at the club house as soon as their working hours were over. Hisa wanted to brief them about the national tournament to all club members which only consists of six members, including Kyoutaro, who was not competing for them, but rather acts an an errand-boy for the rest of the team. As they walked along, Saki could not help but feel something was not right. The same feeling she felt earlier while working in the cafe. The fact that the cafe did not get as much customers as it usually did on Fridays and it was quiet. Too quiet. The only sounds heard were the leaves on the tress rustling in the breeze and the chirping of crickets.

"Saki-san, are you excited?" Nodoka asked, interrupting Saki's thoughts.

"Yes, Nodoka-chan." Saki replied and smiled weakly.

Nodoka smiled back to Saki and held her hand. Saki blushed. It always made her blush when Nodoka held her hand. That was more than enough to get the haunting thought off her mind. When they were five meters away from the stairway leading up to the old school building where their club house was, Mako stopped right in her tracks. Saki and Nodoka stopped too, wondering what happened.

"Mako-senpai, what is it?" Saki asked.

"Look!" Mako said, pointing to the front.

Ahead of the road, below the stairway leading up to the old building, was another stairway leading down to the small town. They saw a figure of a man under the dim street lights. He was clutching something long in his right hand and appeared to be looking into their direction. Saki and Nodoka were frightened by the stranger, while Mako thought he looked familiar.

"HEY!" The stranger called out and ran towards them. Saki and Nodoka screamed and ran. Mako stood her ground, recognizing the voice.

"HEY! Someya-san!" The stranger called out again, waving at the her as he came running. "HEY! Someya-san! Its me, Yuuichi!"

"Eh?! Yuuichi-kun?!" Mako called back. The stranger slowed down and stopped in front of Mako.

"My God..." He said in between breaths. "Am I glad to see you..."

Saki and Nodoka stopped running and looked back. The stranger was a male student from their school. He had unkempt, dark blonde hair and had black headphones around his neck. He appeared to be the same age as Mako. He stood 1.75 meters tall, much taller than the girls and had a slim, slender built.

"Eh? You know this guy, Mako-senpai?" Saki asked Mako, walking back to where her senior was. Nodoka sighed in relief and followed after Saki.

"Yeah, he's my classmate." Mako replied before turning back to her friend. "What happened to you? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"And..." Saki said pointing to the pipe he was holding. "Why does he have a pipe with him?"

Yuuichi looked back at the stairway he just ran up from, looking frightened, which got the girls really curious to what happened.

"We gotta get outta here now!" Yuuichi told the girls. "They're coming!"

"What are you talking about?" Mako asked Yuuichi. "Who's coming?"

"We gotta find a place to hide!" Yuuichi demanded. "Its not safe here!"

"I still don't know what you're talking ab-" Just then, a loud mix moaning noises were were heard.

"What the hell?" Mako looked past Yuuichi, into the direction where the horrible sound came from.

The noise sounded like they were made dozens of people, maybe a lot more. Saki and Nodoka looked around and held on tightly to one another. It seemed that the horrible sound was coming from everywhere.

"Alright, can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Mako asked.

"I'd like to know that myself!" Yuuichi replied. "But first, we gotta find a place to hide! I'll tell you everything that happened in town once we're in a safer place!"

"The Mahjong Club!" Mako said, pointing up to the club house on the old building above the stairway. The lights were still on, indicating that there are people inside.

"You serious?!" Yuuichi asked.

"Dead serious!" Mako replied.

"Ah, fine then!" Yuuichi agreed.

"Uh, look..." Saki said while holding on to Nodoka, pointing to the stairway leading into town.

Mako and Yuuichi turned and saw a tall figure shambling up the stairs. Moaning, he slowly shuffled towards them. The figure was followed by two, four, six, eight, ten more moaning creatures climbing up the stairs. There were a dozen of them, shambling towards Yuuichi and the girls with arms outstretched and fingers gnarled into claws.

"Shit!" Yuuichi cursed. "They're here! The stairs! Go!"

The three girls, followed by Yuuichi, quickly ran towards the stairway, evading the moaning ghouls. Yuuichi swung his pipe and smashed the ghoul closest to them at the side of its head. With an angry snarl, it fell onto the ground and slowly got back to its feet. As they continued running up the flight of stairs and into the dilapidated building, the moaning trailed off behind them. They did not stop running until they finally reached the top floor.

"Here we are!" Mako said as they stopped in front of a large double-sided door.

They quickly went into the club house. Hisa and Yuuki were sitting at the Mahjong table talking, while Kyoutaro was on the computer. As much as she was glad to see the girls, she was surprised to see Yuuichi with them too. Hisa knew him as one of Mako's classmates, since they had met a few times before, but having him coming to club house was something she never expected - with a lead pipe in hand?

"Hai, Yuuichi-kun!" Hisa said cheerfully. "So, you've finally decided to join the Mahjong club?"

Yuuichi ignored her and closed the doors, locking them, bolting the top and bottom. He placed his pipe horizontally within the door's bar handles. Hisa raised an eyebrow, then turned to Mako.

"What's with him?" She asked and noticed that Mako was catching her breath.

"What's with you?" She asked and turned to Saki and Nodoka, catching their breaths as well.

"Alright, by any chance did something happened while you guys were on the way here?" Hisa asked.

"I dunno if you're gonna believe us..." Mako told Hisa. "But we were running away from a bunch of crazed people..."

**Author's Notes:** Yes, Yuuichi was the student you were introduced to in the prologue. Yuuichi's appearance and personality was heavily based off Yosuke Hanamura from Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4. In fact, the small town is heavily based off Inaba, and thus making the setting of this story a semi-AU. Again, feel free to share your opinions on how I can improve on my story. Also, I'm changing the genre of this story to horror/friendship since this story will focus a lot on friendship, survival and teamwork. Also, as you can see the story is set on a Friday, the day the epidemic started according to the first film, Night of the Living Dead, as it was mentioned that the epidemic started two days prior to the events of the movie which takes place on Sunday. Read and review! Thank you! :)


	3. Chapter 2

**~ CHAPTER 2 ~**

(The Mahjong Club - Part 1)

**Kiyosumi Mahjong Club - Friday - 9:25 PM**

"What crazed people?" Hisa asked, raising an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"I honestly don't know..." Mako replied. "But they were moaning and walking around like this..."

Mako started mimicking the movement of the ghouls she saw earlier, stumbling around and imitating their moans, much to Hisa'a amusement. A grin spreads across her face and she started laughing at Mako. Kyoutaro and Yuuki laughed at her as well. Mako blushed, realizing she had done something that made her looked stupid. On the other hand, Saki, Nodoka and Yuuichi were not laughing.

"Hmm..." Kyoutaro, who had stopped using the computer, thought. "Maybe what you saw were just a bunch of drunks?"

"Yeah, right! Ten to twelve drunks walking in a group? And trying to attack us?" Mako said sarcastically. "Yeah, I don't think so!"

"Maybe they're a bunch of perverted drunks?" Hisa winked an eye and pointed to Saki and Nodoka. "I mean, look at their maid outfits!"

Saki and Nodoka blushed. Upon hearing what Hisa had said, Kyoutaro looked to where Saki and Nodoka were standing. He ogled at Nodoka and blushed. He started daydreaming about her being his personal maid - bending down to pour his tea as he watched her big, round bosoms bounce slightly - which went unnoticed by the others in the club house.

"Hey, look!" Mako shot back. "I'm not joking, okay? Those people out there could have killed us!"

"That sounds scary!" Yuuki remarked, then turned to Kyoutaro. "Kyou-chan will protect me, right?!"

"Eh?! Protect you from what?!" Kyoutaro asked, snapping back to reality from his daydreaming state.

"From those drunks, of course!" Yuuki replied. "You'll protect me if they try getting their hands on me right?!"

Saki sighed and Nodoka shook her head. Frustrated, Yuuichi slapped his forehead with his palm. Everyone in the club house were practically bickering about the subject and eventually going off topic. Hisa was being too carefree, making jokes on the matter, while Kyoutaro and Yuuki were having their everyday squabble. Yuuichi finally had enough and snapped.

"ALRIGHT, SHUT UP!" Yuuichi shouted. "JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Everyone went silent and turned to face Yuuichi, who was breathing in and out, eyes burning with anger behind his glasses, fists clenched tightly.

"Takei-san, don't you realize that this is a serious matter?!" Yuuichi said angrily, pointing at Hisa.

"Then? Why don't you tell us what really happened?" Hisa stared at Yuuichi, smug look on her face.

"She's right, Yuuichi-kun" Mako told Yuuichi. "Besides, you're the one who really knows what's going on..."

Yuuichi sighed. He walked up to the Mahjong table and pulled one of the chairs back. He sat down, placed his elbows on the table, took off his glasses, buried his face in his hands for a few seconds before letting go. He looked at Hisa, who was sitting in front of him.

"Look..." Yuuichi sighed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, okay..."

"Nah! It's okay!" Hisa smiled. "Now, tell us what happened..."

"Well, I was heading back from band practice with my friends..." Yuuichi began, everyone in the club house listening intently. "It seemed like any other normal day, until I notice that there was not a single person in town. There was no one in the streets. All the stores were empty but the doors were wide open. As I continue riding into town, I saw someone walking up ahead. I was actually glad to see someone else in town so I called out to him. He was someone I knew, working for a sushi restaurant in town. I've met him a few times but we never talked much. But then..."

"Go on." Hisa said. She was getting interested in Yuuichi's story.

"But then..." Yuuichi continued. "I realized he was missing an arm..."

The club house went silent. Hisa and Mako exchanged looks. Saki and Nodoka kept quiet as they stood behind Kyoutaro, who had gotten up from the chair in front of the computer and sat on an unoccupied chair at the Mahjong table to Yuuichi's left. Yuuki, sitting on Yuuichi's right, sat quietly.

"I thought something terrible happened to him. Like an accident or something. He was losing so much blood. So I decided to call for an ambulance but the line couldn't get through. I tried calling again. The line still couldn't get through. I told him I would take him to the town's clinic, but then..."

"But then what?" Hisa asked, urging Yuuchi to continue his story.

"He attacked me..." Yuuichi continued. "And tried to bite me... I pushed him away but he was unrelenting... He still kept coming for me, still wanting to bite me, growling and grimacing, like a primitive beast. I had no choice but to use force. I smashed him in the face. He went down. It bought me some time and I found a pipe, the same pipe I brought with me here, and knocked his head right off with one swing! THWACK! His head went flying and landed a short distance away from his body. But... The head was still moving..."

"So." Hisa cuts in the story. "You're saying that the guy's head was still moving even after it got knocked off from his shoulders?"

Yuuichi nodded without saying a word. Kyoutaro leaned back on his chair, not knowing whether or not to believe the story. Yuuki was frightened and so was Saki and Nodoka. Everyone in the club house found his story really hard to believe, but at the same time, Yuuichi did not look like he was lying.

"You do know that's not possible!" Mako said. "He would have died once his head is off his body! His head should not be moving!"

"I do know that..." Yuuichi said and continued his story. "I was scared shitless when I saw the head moving. It was moving its jaws... still trying to bite... I backed away and saw more of those things coming for me. Moaning. Lurching. Like the man who just attacked me. There were too many of them. About twenty to thirty of them. I managed to fight off one of them, a male high school student. I hit him in the pressure points with my pipe but it didn't phase his one bit. Then I smashed him right across his head. He went down and never got back up..."

"B-But that sounds like something that should happen only in horror movies and video games!" Yuuki protested. "Are you sure?"

"Then, I thought of my family." Yuuichi continued. "And seeing that I was surrounded by those things, I ran into an intersection and quickly looked for my house. When I reached my house, it was dark inside so I thought no one was home, but the front door wasn't locked. So I went in. I called out for my mom and my big brother. No one answered, so I went upstairs to my mom's room. I heard sounds coming from behind the closed doors so I figured she was inside. I opened the door carefully and turned on the lights, and... And..."

"I saw big brother..." Yuuichi paused, clenching his fists tightly, tears forming in his eyes.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to..." Hisa said reassuringly.

"No... No..." Yuuichi said and wiped his eyes dry. "It's okay... Really..."

"Well, we're listening." Hisa said as the others listened.

"Big brother..." Yuuichi stopped and just let out a deep breath. "Had turned into one of them... And he was fucking eating mom! She was on the floor in a pool of blood! He... he was biting into her arm! I didn't know what to do! I could only scream in anguish! Big brother, or what used to be him anyway, heard me and went after me. And then... I did what I had to do... And smashed him in the head with my pipe, his skull cracked opened and he went slack. He dropped to the floor and stayed there. I ran out of my house... And ran... And ran... And ran... And I eventually got out of the town and met up with Someya-san and her two friends with those things on my track..."

"I'm so sorry, Yuuichi-kun..." Mako said sympathetically, gently patting Yuuichi's back. "I'm so sorry about your mom and your brother..."

Yuuichi buried his face in his arms on the Mahjong table and started sobbing. Mako placed her arms around Yuuichi's shoulder, trying to comfort him. Hisa was totally lost for words. Kyoutaro was taken aback. Yuuki looked down at the table not knowing what to say. Nodoka just stared at Yuuichi, a single tear trickled down her face. Tears formed in Saki's eyes.

"He's been through a lot..." Mako sighed and turned to Hisa. "Look, I know its really hard for you to believe, but he wouldn't lie about it..."

"But... Just what exactly is going on out there?" Hisa said, feeling really concerned for Yuuichi. "Seems to me like it happened suddenly..."

Hisa walked over to the other side of the club house and opened the large double-sided door that lead to the balcony. She climbed over the railing and down to the roof where a beach chair, complete with a beach umbrella, rests. The others in the club, except for Mako and Yuuichi, followed her. Hisa walked closer to the edge of the roof to get a clear view of the town. The street lights were on but she saw only few of the houses had their lights on. Upon closer look, with the help of the street lights she could see several figures moving down the streets, at least two to three dozen of them. They were all shambling, in the same way as Mako had demonstrated to her earlier. Faint but yet clear moaning sounds were heard from the figures, sending chills up her spine. She spied on a telephone pole tilted by a car, which had most likely crashed into it earlier that day. She looked down at the road in front of the old school build they were on and saw about a dozen more figures shambling, another dozen on the pathway that leads from the town and right to the stairs that would lead up to the road in front of the building. Hisa looked back at the town and saw about six to eight figures clawing at the front door of one of the houses with their lights on. There were congested screaming coming from inside the house.

"My God..." Hisa said as she stepped back. "This is madness..."

"What are those things?!" Kyoutaro asked. "They're everywhere!"

"It's like a scene from a horror movie..." Yuuki whimpered. "I'm scared..."

"I don't know, but is it possible that some pandemic caused this?" Saki asked.

"Pandemic? What are you talking about, Saki?" Hisa asked.

"What kind of pandemic do you think caused this?" Kyoutaro asked.

"These kinda things shouldn't be happening in real life!" Yuuki protested.

"I don't know, but my dad had this novel called 'I Am Legend' by Richard Metheson. What's happening here right now is very similar to what's happening in the book. Remember Yuuichi-senpai mentioning one of those things trying to bite him? And his brother 'turning into one of them' and eating his mom? Well, the novel tells of a pandemic which infects people and turns them into vampires. So, I think its most likely that some kind of plague turned all those people into 'vampires' and attack non-infected people..."

"Wow... You're talking science fiction..." Hisa sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Unfortunately..." Kyoutaro said. "This isn't a novel... This is as real as it can get..."

"Then, what else do you think caused this?! Any suggestions?!" Saki snapped. "People just don't go around attacking and eating each other!"

"Everyone..." Nodoka said, stepping forward. "Please don't argue... I'm sure there's some sort of explanation to all of this happening..."

"Can we all please go inside the club house?" Yuuki pleaded. "If we keep arguing they might hear us and know where we are..."

Yuuki was about to cry, frightened by what was happening in town, which was crawling with perhaps hundreds of those creatures with apparently very few normal people left. Everyone else were equally afraid, and confused. There were no signs of any vehicles moving. Hisa turned to the rest of the club. She walked over to Yuuki. The younger girl huddled onto her. Hisa placed her hand firmly on Yuuki's shoulder.

"Yuuki's right..." Hisa said. "There's no point arguing about whatever is going on out there. Let's go back inside..."

They got back into the club house. Hisa closed the door to the balcony once everyone was inside. Yuuichi had stopped crying but was still looking down on the table. Mako was talking to him softly with her hand on his back. Yuuichi smiled at her weakly. Seeing the others back in the club house, she pulled herself from Yuuichi and walked over to Hisa. Mako took off her glasses and wiped it with a handkerchief.

"We gotta get outta here, soon..." Mako suggested. "If they know we're here, we're done for..."

"No, its not safe to do that..." Hisa said as she walked over to Mako. "Those things are everywhere..."

"Then, what do you suggest we do no-"

_THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP..._

Before Mako could finish asking her question, she was interrupted by loud thumping noises on the door. Everyone in the club house turned to face the door. The sounds of fingernails scrapping against the wood were heard followed by a sickening, spine-tingling moan. Everyone backed away from the double sided door to the the wall on the far end of the club. From the sounds of it, there were at least five ghouls outside, beating on the door. Yuuichi had bolted and locked the doors and jammed his pipe horizontally within the bar handles earlier when he arrived at the club house. Yuuki scampered behind Hisa and started whimpering. Saki and Nodoka held on to one another, behind Kyoutaro. Yuuichi and Mako, stood next to one another, looking at the door being attacked from the outside by the marauding creatures.

"Damn! They're here!" Yuuichi said, getting panicked. "Is there another way outta here?! If they break into the club, we're dead!"

"No, that door is our only way outta here!" Hisa said, trying not to panic. "Unless you wanna break a limb or two by jumping down four stories!"

_THUMP... THUMP... THUMP... THUMP..._

Everyone in the club house continued to stare at the door of the club house, as the ghouls continued beating and clawing at the door, moaning.

**Author's Notes:** So, how will our heroes cope with the threat of the "zombies" trying to break into the Mahjong club? Find out in the next chapter! The part where Saki mentioned "I Am Legend" is reference to George A. Romero mentioning that the movie "The Last Man On Earth" (1964), the first film adaptation of "I Am Legend" starring Vincent Price, was his inspiration for Night of the Living Dead. Again, feel free to give me your honest opinions on my latest chapter and how I can improve! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 3

**~ CHAPTER 3 ~**

(The Mahjong Club - Part 2)

Everyone kept silent and stood still as the ghouls continued beating and clawing on the large, double-sided door. Hisa turned her head to the left corner of the club house and spotted several planks of wood stacked up in the corner, along with a large toolbox. Hisa remembered that their school had hired contractors to repair the floorboards of the club house. A smile spread across her face as an idea popped up in her head, and her leadership instincts immediately kicked in.

"Guys, listen up!" Hisa said firmly, pointing to the planks and toolbox. "We're gonna use those to barricade the doors so those things won't get in!"

"But what if they manage to break in even before we barricade the doors?" Yuuichi said. "Believe me, Takei-san, they are stronger than they look!"

"Yuuichi-kun, do you wanna live or do you wanna die?" Hisa asked.

"I wanna live, bu-" Yuuichi said.

"Then we better start barricading ourselves in here, now!" Hisa said.

The others exchanged looks and started whispering amongst themselves. Hisa folded her arms as she started tapping the wooden floor with her right foot, waiting for anyone who would be willing to volunteer to help her board up the door to the club house, keeping her cool. The marauding creatures outside continued clawing on the door, their moaning getting louder, apparently aroused by the noises made by the people inside. Hisa closed her eyes, breathed in and out, then finally spoke.

"Look!" Hisa raised her voice. "I know you're afraid! I'm afraid too! But this is a life and death situation! If we're gonna survive, then we have to cooperate and start working together!"

"Alright guys, you heard the President of the Student Council..." Mako said, pushing her glasses up. "Let's do it!"

"Don't you mean the President of the Student Congress Council, Mako?" Hisa said, a smile plastered on her face.

Mako rubbed the back of her head and giggled at Hisa. Yuuichi and Kyoutaro rushed to the left corner of the club house. They tucked several planks under their arm and carried them over to the door, dropping them onto the floor. Mako carried the toolbox over to Yuuchi and Kyoutaro. Placing the heavy box on the floor, she opened it and looked inside. Among the tools inside the box were two hammers and several nails. Mako picked up a wooden plank and pressed it hard against the door horizontally. It was slightly longer than the width of the door. Mako felt the door moving slightly as the ghouls continued beating on the door outside.

"Yuuichi-kun, Suga-kun, find the longest nails you can and start hammering the plank firmly against the door." Hisa instructed.

Saki passed a hammer to Yuuichi and another to Kyoutaro. Hisa picked up several nails from the floor and passed them to the boys, who started hammering them through the thick, sturdy plank Mako was pressing onto above the door handles, and into the wall. After the boys had done the job, Hisa pulled at the plank. The long nails had literally glued the plank to the wall. Mako picked up another plank and pressed it hard against the door, this time below the handles. Yuuichi started hammering the on left side of the door, while Kyoutaro started hammering on the right. Nodoka watched them doing their work, while embracing Yuuki, who was still frightened. The door was still budging slightly as the ghouls continued their attempt to break in.

"I don't think this is enough to hold them back." Yuuichi told Hisa.

"Then we'll board the top corners of the door as well." Hisa suggested.

"Like this?" Yuuichi said, placing a shorter plank in a 75-degree angle at the top-left corner of the door.

"Yes." Hisa nodded affirmatively, then turned to Kyoutaro. "The same goes for the other corner, Suga-kun."

Saki stepped back as they continued barricading the door. The ghouls outside the club house were moaning even louder, aroused by the noises stirred up by the activity going on inside. Saki stepped back even further from the door and eventually walked up to Nodoka and Yuuki. The smaller girl, who had her face buried in Nodoka's big bosoms, never spoke a single word since those creatures reached the front door of the Mahjong club. Saki gently placed her hand on Yuuki's head to comfort her.

"Alright! Done!" Yuuchi said, stepping back from the door.

"Are you sure this is enough, Prez?" Kyoutaro said to Hisa.

"Hmm..." Hisa thought for awhile. "I think we can use this..."

She walked to the bookshelf, turned and winked. "It's heavy!"

"A bookshelf?" Yuuichi smiled. "Nice thinking!"

"Ah, not a bad idea at all, Prez!" Kyoutaro added.

"Alright, give me a hand already!" Hisa told them both.

Yuuichi and Kyoutaro rushed over to the bookshelf and helped Hisa carry it over to the door. After placing it on the floor, they pushed it against the door. Hisa looked around and spied on the bed they had in the club. She smiled to herself again as new idea popped up in her head. Hisa had always been popular among the students of Kiyosumi High School for her intelligence and confidence, something that she was proud of, and being able to read people's strengths and weaknesses, be it inside or outside of Mahjong.

"We can use the bed to weigh down the door even more!" Hisa suggested.

"I believe that should be more than enough to hold them back..." Mako said.

"Not a hundred percent, though." Hisa said. "But we'll have to give it a try..."

"Yuuichi-kun! Kyou-chan!" Mako called out. "Give us a hand with the bed now..."

Hisa and Mako rushed over to the bed, along with Yuuichi and Kyoutaro. Each of them held on to one corner of the bed, lifted it with their combined effort and brought it over to the front door. After placing it on the floor, they pushed it against the bookshelf. The ghouls outside continued beating on the door. Everyone backed away from the door as the sounds fingernails scrapping and palms of hands beating against the wood continued. Everyone in the club house remained quiet, eyes glued to the door. Hisa turned and gestured to the others, asking them to remain quiet, which they all did.

Within a few minutes, the noises made by those creatures outside ceased. The beating, clawing and moaning had stopped. Hisa walked cautiously to the door. She pressed her ear against the wood. She could make out sounds of shuffling footsteps going down the stairs. The ghouls had given up trying to break in. Hisa turned around, leaning back against the door and let out a sigh of relieve. The plan turned out well, much to her delight. Hisa walked back to where the others were, stopped a short distance from them, winked an eye and brought up a thumb.

"They're gone!" Hisa said with a smile.

"Thank God!" Mako sighed with relieve.

"I gotta admit, Takei-san..." Yuuichi said. "You're quick at coming up with ideas!"

"What do you expect?" Kyoutaro said. "She's the President of the Student Council!"

"No, that's President of the Student Congress Council, Kyou-chan." Hisa corrected him.

Saki and Nodoka looked at one another and smiled. Yuuki, on the other hand, was still worried. Yuuki pulled herself from Nodoka's arms and ran to where Hisa and the rest were, looking really upset.

"What are you guys so happy for?" Yuuki asked. "If those things are gone, it could mean they're getting reinforcements!"

"Yuuki, listen to me." Hisa said as she knelt down in front of Yuuki and placed her hands on the younger girl's shoulders. "Those things don't seem intelligent enough to call for back up. If it makes you feel any better, we'll reinforce the barricades if those things try breaking in again."

"Are you sure we'll be safe here?" Yuuki asked. "I mean, those things already know we're in here. I'm scared they will-"

"Yuuki, we can't go outside either." Hisa said in a comforting tone and looked at the younger girl in the eyes. "There's too many of them out there. We can't escape if the town is crawling with hundreds of those things. If we don't make too much noise, then they won't know we're here."

"But they already know where here..." Yuuki said. "I'm scared... I wanna go home... I don't wanna lose mom and dad..."

Hisa sighed and wrapped her arms around Yuuki, who had started sobbing quietly, and gently stroked her back. She was worried for her family just as much as Yuuki was. In this situation, the worst was to be expected but she did not have the heart to bring it up to Yuuki. Hisa turned her head to face Yuuichi.

"Yuuichi-kun. Does your MP3 player have a radio?" Hisa asked.

"Yeah." Yuuichi replied.

"Does your MP3 player have a built-in-loudspeaker?" Hisa asked.

"Yeah." Yuuichi replied.

"Tune to any news network, they might know something." Hisa said.

"Alright." Yuuichi replied.

Yuuichi pulled out his MP3 player. He detached his headphone from the player and turned on the loudspeaker. He started tuning for a radio station he could get within his frequency. He began walking back and fourth as he continued tuning. Yuuichi walked to the Mahjong table and sat down on a chair, with the others standing around him, all wanting to know what was going on out there. All radio stations seemed to be static, much to his frustration, until he finally found one.

"Got it!" Yuuichi said.

"Great!" Hisa smiled.

_"A state of national emergency has just been issued by the government moments ago. All civilians are advised to stay in their homes and lock their doors. We repeat. All civilians are advised to stay in their homes and lock their doors. This is not a drill. We repeat. This is not a drill. All civilians are instructed to remain in their homes until further announcements are made. All civilians are advised not to venture outside their homes regardless of any reason, until the nature of this crisis has been determined, and until we can advise what course of action to take. Keep listening to the radio and television for special instructions as this crisis develop further. The safest course of action at this time is to simply stay where you are._ _Reports of violence and mass murder are coming in from all prefectures. Because of this crisis that is currently developing, this radio station will remain on the air, day and night."_

"Mass murders? All prefectures?" Hisa muttered.

_"The murders are taking place in villages and cities, rural homes and suburbs with no apparent reason for the killings. It seems to be a sudden epidemic of mass homicide. We were given descriptions of the murderers. Eyewitnesses say they are ordinary-looking people. Some say they appear to be in a kind of trance. Others describe them as being misshapen monsters and creatures that look like people but behave like animals. At this point of time, there is no way for us to say who or what to look for and guard yourself against. __Several bodies of the victims were found mangled and mutilated, some looked as if they had been torn apart._ _This event began developing four hours ago, and from that point on, these terrible events kept on spreading in a reign of terror that has not abated. Military personnel and law enforcement agencies have been working hard in an attempt to gain control of this situation, but for the most part, their efforts have been marginally futile up to this particular time. The government has described this event as Japan's worst case scenario since the Subway Sarin Incident of 1995. The death toll has been estimated upwards a hundred thousand-"_

"This is more serious than I thought..." Hisa muttered.

"My God... It's happening all over Japan..." Mako muttered.

"We're suppose to stay here till further notice?" Yuuichi asked.

"That's what the government had instructed us..." Kyoutaro replied.

Yuuki held on tightly to Hisa while listening to the news. Saki and Nodoka looked at one other, feeling worried. What happened in town was actually happening throughout the country, a nationwide phenomenon, leaving more than a hundred thousand dead and still counting. After learning what happened to Yuuichi's family, the others became worried for the safety of their family members and friends. The event started just four hours ago and a lot of people have already been killed. Saki thought of her father, who she last saw when she left home for school. She also thought of her mother and sister. Where could they be at this point of time? Will the national tournament take place should this continue up to the following week? Will she ever reunite with her sister? The questions kept coming and coming...

**~~~0~~~**

Meanwhile, in town and on the road in front of the old school building, those marauding creatures continued shambling up and down the streets. Ghouls of different shapes and sizes, tall and short, fat and thin, young and old, moaning as they lurch around aimlessly, looking to quench the hunger that could never be satisfied. A well-dressed ghoul in business suit was standing next to a black Mercedes Benz, trying to insert the car keys it was holding into the keyhole of the door on the driver's seat. It kept failing however, and ended up scratching the car instead. Another ghoul, a tall, flat-chested cheerleader with blond ponytails was in a phone booth. It was holding up the phone handle and staring blankly into it, not knowing what to do with it. Another ghoul, an elderly woman, shuffled slowly on the sidewalk, pulling on a leash tied to a dead Maltese dog. A trail of thick, crimson liquid followed as the carcass got dragged along. A large ghoul in mailman uniform walked around with a large bag strapped across its broad shoulders. It shuffled over to a mail box and slowly stuffed its hand into the bag and grabbed a handful of envelopes. It stuffed the envelopes into the slot but only two of the eight he held in his large hand went in while the others fell onto the sidewalk. Five ghouls were hungrily gorging down on the mangled remains of a man. The clock tower which stood in front of the main entrance of a newly-built mall, now crawling with dozens of ghouls, rung as it struck 10:00 PM.

_DONG... DONG... DONG... DONG...  
_

**~~~0~~~**

Hisa slowly walked to the balcony of the club house and rested her arms on the railing. She looked up at the night sky and sighed deeply. With all that was happening throughout the country, what was going to become of the national tournament that was suppose to take place on Monday? Hisa was not only worried about the national tournament but for her family and friends as well. She buried her face her arms. Then, she thought of someone who was really special to her. Someone who she had played against during her middle school days. Someone who she had forgotten for three years until they played against each other during the individuals tournament. Hisa immediately recognized that right eye, sapphire-like, which was beautiful. Tightening her grip on the railing of the balcony, Hisa looked up at the night sky. It would have been a very beautiful night, if not for all that was happening in town.

"Mihoko..." Hisa said softly.

**Author's Notes:** In Romero's films, the "zombies" have little memory of their previous lives. This explains the "zombies" in this story doing some of the things they do when they were alive. Now will our heroes survive the night?

Pairings in this story? Saki X Nodoka, Hisa X Mihoko, Touka X Hajime, Yumi X Momoko, among others. Again feel free to share your opinions on how I can improve on my story! Read and review! Thank you! :)


	5. Chapter 4

**~ CHAPTER 4 ~**

(The Mahjong Club – Part 3)

_"The government has advised all civilians to stay in their homes and lock their doors. Office and factory workers, on the other hand, are advised to stay at their places of employment. However, in spite of this urging and warning, streets and highways are packed with frantic people trying to reach their families or, apparently, to flee just anywhere. We repeat, the safest course of action at this time is to simply stay where you are. Ladies and gentlemen, this just in, civil defense authorities in Yokohama have told newsmen that... Uh... I'm having trouble reading this bulletin... Ladies and gentlemen, as unbelievable as this may seem, consistent reports from witnesses to the effect that people who acted as if they were in a trance were killing and eating their victims prompted authorities to examine the bodies of some of the victims. Medical authorities in Yokohama have concluded that in all cases, the killers are eating the flesh of the people they murdered. Repeating, this latest bulletin just received moments ago from Yokohama, civil defense authorities have told newsmen that murdered victims have shown evidence of having been partially devoured by their murderers. Medical examinations of victims' bodies show conclusively that the killers are eating the flesh of the people they killed. And so, this incredible story becomes more disturbing with each report. It's difficult to imagine such a thing actually happening, but these are the reports we have been receiving and passing on to you, reports which have been verified as completely as is possible in this confusing situation."_

"President?" Mako said, putting her right hand onto Hisa's left shoulder. "Is anything wrong?"

"I'm just worried." Hisa said, turning her head to face Mako. "Family, friends, the nationals..."

"I'm just as worried as you are." Mako sighed. "I tried to call home... But no one picked up..."

Releasing her grip from Hisa's shoulder, Mako moved herself to Hisa's right. Resting her arms on the railing of the balcony, she looked up at the night sky. It was a cloudy night. The moon was shining brightly behind the clouds. The cool breeze blew their hair gently. Mako turned to look at Hisa. She could see that Hisa was in deep thought, but would rather not talk about it. Hisa pulled herself from the railing and stood upright. Turning herself around, she walked back into the club house. Mako walked in after her.

Yuuichi was still sitting at the Mahjong table listening to the radio station on his MP3 player. Yuuki was huddled on tightly to Nodoka, her face buried in the latter's big bosoms. Saki was desperately trying to call home, pacing around restlessly with a cell phone in her right hand. Kyoutaro was fixing tea for everyone in the club house. After pouring tea from the kettle into seven cups, Kyoutaro placed the cups onto a tray. He carried the tray with both hands then walked over to the Mahjong table and carefully placed the tray on top of a rack, which stood next to the table.

"Thanks." Yuuichi said kindly, reaching out for a cup of tea.

"No problem. You must be thirsty anyway." Kyoutaro said.

"Tastes good." Yuuichi said, after he took a sip for his cup.

"Thanks." Kyoutaro smiled, rubbing the back of his head.

Hisa sat down on an unoccupied chair near the Mahjong table. She reached out for a cup of tea and took a sip. Mako sat down on a chair, which was facing Yuuichi's direction, taking a cup of tea for herself. Kyoutaro placed his cup of tea on the Mahjong table, then sat himself down on a chair facing Hisa's direction and pulled out his cell phone in attempt to call home. Nodoka removed her ribbons from her head and untied her long, pink hair and letting it flow down her back. It was getting hot inside the club house.

"Aww, come on..." Saki mumbled sounding very worried.

"Forget it, it's useless..." Yuuichi said. "We've all tried..."

"Yuuichi-kun's right, Saki..." Mako sighed. "It's no use..."

"Dad... I hope you're alright..." Saki mumbled to herself.

Hisa looked at Saki, who was about to cry. She was just as worried as Saki was but this was the time where their survival is their top priority. Hisa did not want to see any of her friends let their emotions get the better of them in which would affect their team effort and survival. She understood the fear of losing loved ones perfectly, however, their lives are at stake here. Hisa sighed. She felt that it was time she needed to be firm with everyone in the club house.

"Look, I really hate to say this..." Hisa said as she stood up. "At this point of time, we have to expect the worst. Right now, our main priority is our survival. We have to be strong. We have to stay strong. We gotta start cooperating. As long as we stick together and work together as a team, then we have a much higher chance of survival. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone looked at one another for a moment before nodding in agreement. Saki kept quiet for a while and finally nodded. Yuuki looked up from Nodoka's bosoms, then nodded weakly. Hisa smiled back at the others before sitting down on her chair and taking a sip from her cup.

"What we can do now is to listen to the radio station." Hisa said, placing her cup back onto its saucer. "Hopefully, they will come up with a plan that would help us out of this mess soon..."

_"For those of you just tuning in, we will be on air for the remainder of this crisis. The situation at this hour does not look hopeful. Whatever is going on it is not a local phenomenon. Similar cases have been reported from the eastern to midwestern regions of the Unites States and the northwestern regions of Europe as well. Clearly this is a very dark time, a very confusing time. It is unclear how or why this is happening."_

"Wait..." Hisa said. "Did he just say that this is happening in the United States too?"

"Seriously..." Mako said. "Just what the hell is going on? It's happening in Europe too..."

_"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been told that we are going live to news correspondent, Shizuka Takahashi, who is on site at the National Diet Building. Hello Miss Takahashi, can you tell us what's going on there? Hello? Miss Takahashi? Well, it looks like we are having some technical difficulties getting in touch with Shizuka Takahashi; we will try again momentarily. This is definitely a very disturbing news and we will be staying with this story all day long."_

"Geez, this is fucked up..." Yuuichi muttered. "It was a perfectly normal day, then suddenly everyone turned into crazed cannibals and now you're telling me it's happening worldwide?"

"Maybe Saki was right..." Kyoutato suggested. "Maybe it was a pandemic that caused this after all. She did tell us that normal people just don't go around attacking and eating each other..."

"I still think this is something that should only happen in horror movies and video games..." Yuuki mumbled quietly while still huddling on tightly to Nodoka, the latter patting her head.

"In any case, we should figure out what those things are and how we can fight against them." Saki said. "From what Yuuichi-kun told us earlier, physical blows don't seem have any affect."

"Pretty much..." Yuuichi nodded. "The first one I came across didn't seem bothered by his missing arm at all. And the fact that its head was still moving even after I knocked it off its shoulders still bothers me. When another one attacked me, I tried slowing it down by hitting its pressure points but did not phase it one bit. It was only when I smashed its skull in then it got put down. I tried doing the same thing to big brother, or what used to be him anyway, and it worked. So, I'm guessing that by only damaging their brain then we could kill those things."

"Kinda like vampires..." Saki said. "A vampire can only be killed by driving a stake through its heart. But in this case, those things can only be killed by any form of damage to the brain!"

"Not to mention that those things are slow moving..." Yuuichi added. "In fact, we don't have to run away from them. We can just walk away from them. Individually, they have great amount of strength but because of their slow movements they can be outmaneuvered pretty easily. I was able to handle one of them easily, but we can't be sure of that if we're being surrounded by five, ten or twenty of those things. That could be a real problem. And there has got to be hundreds of them in town right now. We can't escape even if we try to and work together..."

"We're advised not to do that right now." Hisa said. "The radio tells us that we can only stay where we are until the government tells us what precautions to take. Its not safe out there."

**~~~0~~~**

At the bottom of the stairway that leads up to the old school building where the Mahjong club was, a tall and slender ghoul which used to be a third year high school delinquent, shuffled slowly along the road where dozens of other ghouls where shambling around aimlessly. An old butcher was shuffling along, dragging its feet and holding a meat cleaver in its right hand. Its vacant eyes were staring ahead blankly and a deep moan escaping from its gaping mouth. Another ghoul, a male youth dressed in full jogging suit, tripped over a rock and fell down to the ground. As the ghoul slowly sat up, it spotted a shiny object lying on the ground, a coin. The ghoul slowly reached out its hand to pick it up and stared at it, mesmerized. In town, the ghouls continued shuffling up and down the streets. A middle-aged female ghoul was pushing an empty shopping cart inside the newly built mall, now crawling with dozens of marauding ghouls. A young girl ghoul shambled between the aisles of a doll shop holding a baby doll in her right arm. Several ghouls were shambling around in the indoor ice-skating rink within the mall. A few of them kept slipping and falling due to the floor being slippery. The mall music was still playing, a haunting, and melodramatic tune that were drowned only by the moaning of the creatures.

**~~~0~~~**

Two hours had passed since they barricaded themselves within the club house. Yuuichi's MP3 player was still turned on but the radio station had no new announcement regarding the crisis so far. Yuuki was fast asleep, resting her head on the table. Saki was sitting next to Yuuki, her right hand twiddling around with a Mahjong tile. Kyoutaro was sitting to the right side of the doorway to the balcony, leaning his back against the wall, looking down at the wooden floor. Yuuichi was walking around the club house with his hands in the pockets of his pants. He was in deep thought. Nodoka was standing at the balcony with Hisa and Mako. The big-bosomed girl yawned and rubbed an eye, catching the attention of both Hisa and Mako. The clock tower was heard ringing from the town mall as it struck the midnight hour.

_DONG... DONG... DONG... DONG...  
_

"We need to get some sleep..." Mako said, she too getting tired.

"Well, one of us better keep watch, in case those things try to break in again..." Hisa said.

"They can't get in here..." Mako said.

"But enough of them will..." Hisa said.

"Kyou-chan and I will take turns keeping watch." Yuuichi suggested, walking to the balcony.

"Hmm..." Hisa thought. "Sounds like a good idea."

"But don't you need some sleep too?" Mako asked.

"Like I said." Yuuichi replied. "We'll keep watch hourly. While I'm keeping watch, Kyou-chan's sleeping."

"Yeah, you girls go ahead and sleep." Kyoutaro said. "Yuuichi and I will keep watch over the club house."

"Thanks guys!" Hisa said cheerfully. "You're the best!"

"No problem!" Yuuichi winked. "You can count on us!"

**Author's Notes:** So, will our heroes make it through the night? Will they come up with a plan to escape from the zombie-infested town in the morning? Find out in the next chapter!

In Night of the Living Dead, the news report in the film depicts that the epidemic first happened in the eastern and midwestern United States. In Diary of the Dead, which happens at the same time as Night of the Living Dead and this story, it was shown that the epidemic also happened in Japan and the United Kingdom as well. Again, feel free to share your opinions on how I can improve on my story. Read and review! Thank you! :)

P.S. I might be slow in updating since I'm working but I'll try my best to update as soon as possible. I hope you understand! :)


	6. Chapter 5

**~ CHAPTER 5**** ~  
**

(Escape)

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. All was fine and well. Saki was on her way home from school and happily humming to herself as she continued to walk down the streets. It didn't hit her at first, but as she was approaching her house, Saki realized that she was alone. There were no one else around. Upon arrival at her house, she noticed that the front door had been left ajar. Saki pushed the door slowly as she entered, its hinges creaking loudly, breaking the silence that was surrounding her. After stepping into her house, Saki noticed it was in a mess. It looked as if someone had broken in and ransacked the house. She walked slowly into the living room and found that the television was still on, but was static. Debris scattered throughout the living room.

"Hello?" Saki called out. "Dad?"

Saki walked across the living room and towards the stairway that lead to the rooms upstairs. Saki climbed the stairs slowly, her footsteps echoing through the seemingly empty house. As she reached the second floor, she noticed there were bloodstains on the floor - leading to her father's room!

"My God!" Saki gasped. "Dad?"

Saki rushed over to the door. Reaching for the doorknob, she opened it quietly. She peeked in and saw a silhouette of a man standing in the corner of the room, his back facing her. She recognized him as her father from the clothes he wore. Saki cautiously walked over to him.

"Dad?" Saki said as she reached out and touched her father gently on his shoulder.

He turned around slowly and Saki found herself looking into the vacant eyes of her father, or what used to be her father. Saki stood rooted to her spot. She could only look at her 'father' helplessly. She didn't know what to do. In a split-second, the ghoul opened its mouth and bared its teeth, lunging at her with a ferocious, animal-like growl.

**~~~0~~~**

**Kiyosumi Mahjong Club – Saturday – 8:30 AM**

Saki screamed as she sat up from the table. Sweat poured down her body. She was breathing heavily and her heart was beating wildly within her chest. Saki looked around and realized she was still in the Mahjong club. She turned her head to the balcony and she could see that it was already morning. Pulling out her cell phone, she checked the time. It was 8:30 in the morning.

"It's just... A dream..." Saki said as she threw her head back, closed her eyes and sighed.

"Are you okay, Saki-san?" Nodoka said, putting her hands on Saki's shoulders from behind.

"I... I guess..." Saki said, turning her head back to look at Nodoka. "Just had a bad dream..."

Nodoka wrapped her arms around Saki from behind to comfort her. Saki blushed as Nodoka's big bosoms pressed onto her back. Blinking for a few seconds, she closed her eyes and smiled sweetly. She knew that Nodoka was trying her best to comfort her. Saki reached back with her right hand to touch Nodoka's left shoulder, in response to her kindness.

"Ah, you're already awake, Saki." Hisa smiled while approaching Saki and Nodoka. She had just walked back into the club house from the balcony. Mako followed in after her. Yuuki was still sitting on the same chair she slept on last night, awake but still as quiet as she was last night. Kyoutaro was making tea for everyone, while Yuuichi was out at the balcony looking at the town with his hands in his pockets. After a few minutes, he walked back in and joined the others. Nodoka stopped hugging Saki and stood upright once everyone was in the club house.

"I'd like to make breakfast for you guys but there's no kitchen in the club house." Yuuichi said as he took the cup of tea Kyoutaro passed to him and took a sip. "So... what's the plan now?"

"I've thought about it carefully." Hisa said. "I know we're advised to stay where we are, but I think we should get outta of here as soon as possible. Besides, there are not too many of them right now. We can make use of this opportunity to escape. They're slow, we can outrun them."

"But isn't that too dangerous?" Saki asked, objecting the plan. "It's happening all over Japan. Those things are everywhere. Even if we escape from this town, there will still be hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of those things out there. No place is safe at this point of time..."

"Now, let's not be paranoid…" Hisa said, putting her right hand on Saki's left shoulder. "As I said, there are not as much of those things as there were last night. Besides, if we wanna stay here, how much longer do we have to wait? We have no food here. We'll starve to death..."

"She does have a point, Miyanaga-san..." Yuuichi said. "We have no food supply and it might take days for a search party to reach this town. That reminds me, it's funny how there are not as much of them as there were last night. The whole town was crawling with hundreds of them last night. But now, there are only about two dozen of them. Where did the rest of them go?"

"Perhaps they've eaten every single person in town..." Mako said. "Having no more victims left, they are bound to leave town and seek more human victims elsewhere. Just a theory, though..."

"Most probably..." Hisa sighed. After finishing her tea, she turned to Yuuichi and Kyoutaro. "While you two were keeping watch last night, were there any new updates regarding this situation?"

"Well, what I heard was that the government had implemented martial law in all major cities of the country. They are currently setting up rescue stations in various parts of the country, but the locations for the shelters have not been announced yet..." Yuuichi said. "Pretty much..."

"About time. I hope the military and police will gain control of this situation soon..." Hisa said. "How about you, Suga-kun, did you hear anything while it was your turn keeping watch?"

"Nothing much..." Kyoutaro said. "Just a bunch of speculations and theories to all this happening. Most of them are more or less similar to Saki's theory. Some said it might be some kind of chemical spill that made people go crazy. Some said it was a viral outbreak that turned people rabid. Pfft, religious leaders all around the world believe that Judgment Day is upon us. So, no correct explanation has been made regarding the crisis. Just theories here and there..."

"Well, at least the government is finally doing something to restore order throughout this country." Hisa said. "As for the cause of all this happening, we don't have to worry about that right now."

_"This is Akira Kurosawa reporting live from the emergency headquarters at the Tokyo Medical University. For those of you just tuning in, there is a martial law state in effect in Tokyo as in all major cities of the country. We are glad to inform you that rescue stations have been set up throughout the country. The government has informed all civilians to evacuate their family and head to the nearest safe house. The following is a list of the military safe houses that are currenty in operation; Kyoto University, Nagoya City Hall, Tokyo Medical University, Tsuruga Academy and Yokohama Station. I repeat, the following is a list of military safe houses that are currently in operation; Kyoto University, Nagoya City Hall, Tokyo Medical University, Tsuruga Academy and Yokohama Station. Ladies and gentlemen, please bring whatever supplies you can. We are in dire need of food, water, clothing, batteries, flashlights, weapons and ammunition. This is Akira Kurosawa reminding you that we will be doing reports every hour on the hour, for as long as we can."_

"Tsuruga Academy!" Hisa said, turning around and smiling at the others. "That academy was among the schools we were competing against during our Mahjong tournaments! It's nearest safe house to where we are now! Here's the plan! We'll grab whatever supplies we need in town and head there!"

"It's gonna much easier said than done, President..." Mako shook her head. "We still have about two dozen of those things to worry about. And even if we're able to make it out of this town safely, how are we gonna get to Tsuruga Academy? Walk there? You do know that none of us can drive, right?"

"Hmm..." Hisa thought to herself for a while and sighed. "Well, you made a really good point but we have to get outta here as soon as possible 'cause we're totally devoid of food and weapons. We're gonna starve to death if we stay here any longer and if they manage to break in here, we're lunch..."

"Damn, you do have a point as well..." Mako sighed, confused. "Well, you're the leader... So I guess we'll go with your plan. Besides, I believe we can find safer places to hide in town and there are a lot of stores in the shopping district. I suppose we can get whatever supplies we need there."

"Don't forget that there's a blacksmith workshop in town too." Yuuichi added. "They sell all kinds of weapons there, you know, daggers, knives, swords. They'll come in handy should we need them..."

"Daggers? Knives? Swords?" Kyoutaro remarked. "What makes you think those are more than enough to keep those things at bay, Yuuichi-senpai? Sure, they are useful when there are not too much of those things around but what if we're surrounded by about twenty to thirty of them?"

"As I said before, those things are as slow as fuck. We can outmaneuver them easily." Yuuichi said. "There are not too many of them in town now so we're able to outrun them. Takei-san did say that as long as we stick together and work together then we have higher chances of survival, right?"

While the others in the club house were discussing the escape plan, Saki got up from her chair and walked to the balcony. As she reached the balcony, she put her hands on the railing and turned her head to look at the town. True to what Hisa had told them earlier, there were not as much of those creatures in town as there were last night. From her point of view, Saki could see that there were only about a dozen of them, probably a little more, shuffling around. They were far from one another, unlike the previous night where the streets were clustered with hundreds of them. Nodoka walked over to the balcony. Standing next to Saki, she put her left hand onto Saki's right hand. Saki blushed and turned to Nodoka. She closed her eyes and smiled. It was very quiet outside except for the sounds of birds chirping. The sky was bright and cloudy, a beautiful summer morning. Suddenly, the both of them heard a loud, distinct sound echoing from the town.

_B-LAAAAM!!!_

Saki and Nodoka's eyes popped open in surprise. They looked at one another upon hearing the familiar sound and blinked for a few seconds. It was the unmistakable sound of a gunshot! Smiling at one another, they ran back into the club house to inform what they had heard to the others.

"President! President!" Saki shouted in excitement after stopping in front of Hisa to catch her breath.

"Huh? What is it, Saki?" Hisa asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Nodoka-chan and I... Heard a gunshot!" Saki said excitedly.

"A gunshot?! From where?!" Hisa asked, clamping Saki's shoulders with her hands, shaking her slightly.

"We... H-heard it from town!" Saki said in between breaths.

"Someone's there!" Hisa said, still clamping Saki's shoulders.

Hisa quickly ran out of the club house and into the balcony. She jumped over the railing and onto the roof of the old school building. Hisa stopped running once she reached the edge of the roof to take a look at the town for herself. The others in the Mahjong club followed her onto the roof.

_B-LAAAAM!!!_

Another gunshot rang out and echoed from the town. In normal times, people would associate gunfire with danger and run away from it. But this time, the sound of gunfire is a sign of life, a positive thing. Hisa smiled widely. Saki and Nodoka closed their eyes and smiled at one another. The other four started cheering happily. Mako and Yuuki hugged each other and turned around several times while Yuuichi and Kyoutaro gave each other a high-five.

"Maybe it's the military!" Mako said. "Maybe they're clearing those things out and looking for survivors!"

"YAY! We're saved! We're saved! We're saved! We're saved!" Yuuki cheered and jumped around in joy.

"But if that's the military, aren't we gonna hear more than just one gunshot?" Hisa asked. "From what I'm hearing, it sounded more like a single person shooting. But still, we gotta get to town to check it out. Maybe we could ask that person for help. Maybe that person could drive us to Tsuruga Academy!"

Hisa quickly climbed over the railing and went back inside the club house, the others following behind her. Yuuichi went over to the Mahjong table and picked up his MP3 player. He attached his headphones back onto it and placed it in his right pants pocket. Hisa walked over to the main door of the Mahjong club and turned to the others in the club, calling out to them.

"So, who wants to help me take down the barricades?" Hisa smiled and winked an eye.

The others in the club house quickly went over to the front door. Yuuichi and Kyoutaro held on to the top corners of the bed, while Hisa and Mako held on to the bottom corners of the bed. With their combined effort, the four of them lifted the bed and carried it away from the door, placing it on the floor. Yuuichi wiped sweat from his forehead, turning to Saki and Nodoka.

"Miyanaga-san! Oppai-chan!" Yuuichi called out to Saki and Nodoka, the latter blushing at the nickname Yuuichi had given her.

"You two may move the bookshelf!" Yuuichi told them. Saki and Nodoka helped one another push the shelf away from the door.

Mako picked up a pair of hammers and passed them to Yuuichi and Kyoutaro. Using the claws of the hammers, they pried the planks from the walls one by one and placed them on the floor. Yuuichi removed his iron pipe from the door handles while Kyoutaro unlocked the door, unbolting the top and bottom as well. He carefully opened the door and peek outside, looking left and right.

"Alright." Kyoutaro told the rest in the club house. "The coast is clear. We can go out now."

"Let's go." Hisa said, walking out from the club house cautiously. "I'm gonna miss this place."

The others followed Hisa as she continued walking towards the stairway. Hisa stopped and turned to look back at the Mahjong club sadly, knowing that this was the last time she was going to see it. The others know how she felt as this club holds a lot of treasured memories. Mako remembered the day she joined the club, she was the first member to join after Hisa established the club. Saki remembered the good times she had when she first joined the club and since then, she had not only made new friends but the club represented their school for the first time. Mako turned to Hisa and saw her eyes glistening with tears. Mako placed her right hand onto Hisa's left shoulder and held on firmly. Hisa smiled, wiping her eyes dry.

"I'm fine." Hisa told Mako, and then turned her attention to the club house. "We have to go now. Thanks for the memories you have given us..."

With that, they walked down the stairs and carefully stepped out of the old school building. Hisa looked left, right and center. There were no signs of any creature in the courtyard. The group made their way to the road in front of the building and down the stairs that would lead them to the path leading to town...

**Author's Notes:** To my fellow readers, I apologize for updating the fifth chapter so late! So, you're probably thinking who is the mysterious person shooting in town? Find out in the next chapter! Again, please feel free to share your opinions on how I should improve! Read and review! Thank you!


	7. Chapter 6

**~ CHAPTER 6**** ~  
**

(The Blacksmith Workshop)

**Inaba – Saturday – 10.00 AM**

"Are you sure we'll be safe here?" Mako asked.

"As long as we don't make too much noise, we will be." Hisa replied.

"How many of them are there now?" Mako asked.

"I can only see four of them from here." Hisa said, turning to the others.

The group had reached the rural town of Inaba. They were hiding in an alley in the middle of the shopping district, staying out of sight from the remaining marauding creatures shuffling around. What used to be a lively town was now dead and deserted. Litters were scattered throughout the streets, few blowing in the death-scented wind. Various abandoned vehicles, some having their doors ajar, clogged up the streets of shopping district. Time around them seemed to have stood still.

"The blacksmith shop is right over there." Yuuichi said, pointing out of the alley and across the street. "If we can just sneak into the store without any of them noticing…"

"I don't think it's safe to do that now." Hisa said, peering out of the alley and looking to her right. "We have four of those things on the left side of the road. They will see us for sure if we sneak into the store. We'll have to wait a while longer. Better be safe…"

Hisa sat herself down on the ground, leaning her back against the outer wall of the pastry store behind her and sighed deeply, thinking of all the good things she would be doing at that time on a normal day. Yuuichi placed his lead pipe on the ground and sat down after Hisa, followed by the others. The group remained quiet. The only sounds they heard were the shuffling of footsteps from the distance and the occasional, mournful moaning of the ghouls. Just then, they heard that loud, distinct sound again.

_B-LAAAAM!!!_

The gunshot rang out and echoed through the streets. Hisa peered out of the alley, turning her head left and right. She smiled as she saw the ghouls being distracted by the sound. They had their backs turned to her direction, wandering off to find the source of the loud noise.

"Alright." Hisa turned to the others and brought up a thumb. "Now that those things are distracted, this is our chance for getting into the blacksmith shop to get what we need…"

"But we gotta make it fast." Mako said. "They might see us when we're halfway there."

"But we can't make too much noise either." Hisa said, turning her head back to the road. "I have an idea. There are two cars between the blacksmith shop and where we are now. Now, this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna sneak across the street quietly and hide behind the first car for a minute and while we're hiding, I'll take a look to see if any of those things are looking into our direction and if they aren't, we'll quietly sneak behind the second car and repeat step one before finally going inside the blacksmith shop…"

"Hmm…" Mako pushed her glasses up. "Well, that sounds like a good idea, President."

"But we still to be cautious, though." Hisa said. "Just follow my lead, stick close to one another, try not making as much noise as possible and everything's gonna be alright…"

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Yuuichi stood up and held on to his lead pipe firmly.

"Alright. Let's do it." Hisa stood up and stretched. Mako and the others stood up after her. "Remember, follow my lead and stick close to one another. We should be safe…"

Hisa peered out of the alley again and looked around. She turned her head to the left. No sign of those creatures. She turned her head to the right. No sign of those creatures again.

"Guys, get behind me in a row." Hisa instructed. Mako stood behind her, followed by Yuuichi, Saki, Nodoka, Yuuki and Kyoutaro, forming a single file. "Let's get moving."

The group cautiously walked out from the alley and into the street. Quickly but quietly, they ran to the right side of the first car, a red Honda Civic, and stopped there. Placing her left hand onto the car hood, Hisa brought her head up and looked to the left side of the street. The same four ghouls were shuffling in the distance, none of them looking into her direction. She turned her head to the second car ahead of her across the street. At least four meters of distance separated the first car and the second.

"Let's go…" Hisa whispered as she made a hand gesture to the others to follow her lead. The group carefully sneaked out from the right side of the Honda Civic they were hiding behind quietly made their way to the second car across the street, a gray Mitsubishi, and hide behind it. Hisa once again brought her head up and looked to her left. The creatures were still shuffling in the distance, again with their backs facing her. Just then, she heard the others behind her gasping in distress. Puzzled, she turned to them.

"What is it?" Hisa asked. "Is there anything wrong?"

"Look…" Mako said and pointed to their right side.

Hisa turned her head to where Mako was pointing and about fifty meters from where her group was, Hisa saw eight creatures shuffling into the street from both intersections, five coming in from the left and three coming in from the right, moaning as they spotted their prey, advancing slowly towards them with their arms outstretched, gnarling their fingers into claws, their faces twisted to rage as they growled in hunger. Hisa turned her head to the left instinctively. The four creatures she saw shuffling in the distance earlier on were now shuffling towards them, being drawn by the growling of the creatures that have just entered the right side of the street. Yuuki started whimpering and huddled herself tightly against Nodoka while the others started to panic. Hisa, however, remained calm despite knowing that they have twelve creatures homing in on them.

"Shit!" Yuuichi cursed under his breath. "This wasn't quite what we've planned…"

"Let's get inside the store now!" Hisa commanded. The group dashed out from the right side of the gray Mitsubishi and headed for the blacksmith shop, which was a few meters ahead of them. Hisa was the first to reach the store, followed by Mako, Yuuichi and Saki. As Nodoka was about to reach the store, however, she tripped over a rock and fell down, landing embarrassingly on her bosoms and scraping her left knee.

"Owww…" Nodoka groaned in pain as she sat herself up, clutching her left knee.

"Nodoka-chan!" Saki gasped as she rushed over to Nodoka, helping her to get up.

"Saki-san…" Nodoka groaned. Saki helped Nodoka put her right arm onto her shoulder, and then lifted her back to her feet. Nodoka walked into the store with Saki's support.

"Are you alright, Oppai-chan?" Yuuichi asked, looking at Nodoka's left knee. A hole was torn in the middle of her left thigh high, exposing her scraped knee, which was bleeding.

"We'll worry about that later!" Hisa said, looking at the ghouls approaching them slowly. "We gotta get in the store now and seal the entrance shut! Come on, let's get moving!"

With the ghouls homing in on their presence, the group quickly entered the blacksmith shop. Yuuichi jumped up, grabbed the handle of the store's rolling shutter tightly, and pulled it all the way down. Saki sat Nodoka down on a stool next to an anvil. Kyoutaro closed the sliding door behind the shutter, and pushing a samurai armor décor against it for extra measure. Hisa walked passed the counter, looking at the vast number of swords hanging on the wall behind it. As she walked on, Hisa noticed that there was a stairway leading to the second floor of the workshop. She walked through a door to the counter's right and saw a path leading to the back exit. Hisa quickly walked to the door, locked it, and walked back to the workshop where everyone was gathering around Nodoka. Mako was checking Nodoka's wound while Saki watched on, feeling worried for her friend.

"How's her leg?" Hisa asked Mako as she walked towards them.

"It's just a scrap, nothing serious…" Mako replied reassuringly.

"Does your leg hurt?" Hisa asked, kneeling in front of Nodoka.

"Yes…" Nodoka replied and nodded.

"Can you walk on it?" Hisa asked, and gently placed her hand on Nodoka's shoulder.

"I think so…" Nodoka replied, unsure.

"Take off your stocking." Hisa said. "We'll use it as a makeshift gauze for your wound."

"O-Okay…" Nodoka said, smiling weakly.

_THUMP… THUMP… THUMP… THUMP…_

Loud thumping noises were heard just as Hisa started helping Nodoka remove her left shoe and pulling down her thigh high. Yuuki huddled on tightly to Mako as the ghouls outside started beating against the rolling shutter. Saki looked on as the shutter pushed inwards slightly as the combined mass of twelve ghouls converged against it. Moaning and growling, the ghouls continued beating on the shutter, trying to get to their meals.

"Don't worry…" Yuuichi said. "They won't be able to get in here anytime soon…"

"Suga-kun…" Hisa said while wrapping Nodoka's wounded knee with the latter's own thigh high. "There's a passage leading to the back door. Find whatever you can to block the door in case those things are out back as well. Yuuichi-kun, go help him out…"

"Alright." Kyoutaro and Yuuichi responded in unison before walking out to the back.

"Wait, Kyou-chan…" Yuuichi stopped and picked up something resting on the anvil.

"What is it?" Kyoutaro asked, turning back to face Yuuichi, who was approaching him.

"Here, take this…" Yuuichi replied, handing Kyoutaro a large blacksmithing hammer. "I figured you might need a weapon for yourself just in case." He added and winked an eye.

"Thanks!" Kyoutaro replied, taking the hammer from Yuuichi with his right hand and toyed around with the heavy item for a while. "Damn, this thing is heavy!" He added.

Kyoutaro and Yuuichi walked into the passage that lead to the back door, which Hisa had locked earlier. Looking around, Yuuichi spotted several boxes that contained scrap metal at the corner of the passage, right in front of the back door. Yuuichi dropped his lead pipe and walked up to the boxes. Grabbing one of the boxes with both hands, he dragged it all the way across the narrow path and pushed it against the door. He turned to Kyoutaro.

"Kyou-chan, give a hand." Yuuichi said. Kyoutaro placed his hammer on the floor, went up to Yuuichi and helped the latter lift another heavy box and placed it over the first box. The both of them lifted the third box and place it over the second box. They repeated the step with the fourth box. Yuuichi wiped the sweat off his forehead and unbuttoned the top buttons of his black uniform. He fanned himself with his right hand to cool himself down.

"Will that be enough?" Kyoutaro asked.

"If any of those things try breaking in from the back, we'll reinforce the door." Yuuichi replied. "Besides, there're still twelve of them trying to pound their way in here from the front, so we might need to use the back door if we need to get out of this workshop…"

"You made a good point." Kyoutaro said, picking up his hammer.

"Let's go back to the others." Yuuichi said, picking up his lead pipe.

Kyoutaro and Yuuichi walked out of the passage leading to the back exit and back into the workshop. Hisa had already finished bandaging Nodoka's wounded knee with Saki looking on. Yuuki was holding on tightly to Mako and the ghouls were still outside the workshop, beating and clawing on the rolling shutter, moaning and growling hungrily. Hisa turned her attention to Kyoutaro and Yuuichi as soon as she had noticed them.

"Done barricading the back door?" Hisa asked.

"Yes." Kyoutaro and Yuuichi replied in unison.

"Good." Hisa said, smiling at the both of them.

_T-HUUUUD!!!_

"What the shit was that sound?" Yuuichi asked.

Everyone turned their attention to the stairway leading to the second floor, where the loud noise they just heard came from. Everyone kept quiet and looked at one another, realizing that they have not checked the second floor yet. Hisa swallowed hard as she stood up and walked to the stairway to see if anything was upstairs. She could not see from where she was standing and decided to go up to take a look for herself. As Hisa was about to climb the stairs, she felt someone clamping a hand tightly onto her left shoulder. She turned and saw Mako.

"I'll go take a look." Mako said.

"Are you sure?" Hisa asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Mako replied.

"It's dangerous…" Hisa said.

"I'll be fine, President." Mako said.

Mako slowly made her way up the wooden stairway as the others watched her and kept quiet. The only sounds heard were Mako's footsteps, as the bottom of her school shoes tapped against the wood of each step. Mako swallowed hard as she was about to reach the second floor. It was quiet upstairs, too quiet. As Mako got closer and closer to the second floor, a horrible stench hit her like a sledgehammer. The stench grew stronger with every step she took until she had to pull out her handkerchief and covered her nose and mouth with it. As she reached the top of the stairs, Mako peered to her left and saw a corridor leading to two rooms, both of which had their doors closed. She saw something lying in the corridor, between the two doors. As she stepped closer, she noticed it was a body of a man in dirty white shit and dark overalls, thus explaining the horrible stench.

"Mako? Mako?" Hisa called out from downstairs. "Mako? What did you see up there?"

Mako did not answer her friend's call and continued walking towards the corpse, with her handkerchief still covering her nose and mouth. She saw blood splattered around the man and some being smeared on the walls. Mako kept walking and noticed that the corpse was lying on belly-first on the wooden floor. After stopping about a meter away, she saw that his back had been torn open, his intestines ripped through and a section of his spine was lying to his right, not too far away from him. Mako's eyes widened with horror. She was sweating profusely as she stepped back from the corpse and felt bile rising up her throat.

"_My God…"_ Mako thought to herself, stepping back and eyes still fixed on the corpse.

_C-REEEEAK!!!_

Then, she heard a loud creaking sound coming from right ahead of her. Looking straight to the direction where the sound came from, she saw the left door opening slowly but the room was dark so she could not see who it was behind the door as it slowly opened.

_R-AAAAAAAARGH!!!_

With a ferocious growl, a ghoul came charging out from the room and tackled Mako hard onto the floor. Mako yelled and struggled as the ghoul pinned her down and tried to take a bite off her throat. Mako tried pushing the creature off to no avail, and started pounding her right fist onto its left shoulder, but it was unrelenting. The growling of the ghoul and Mako's screaming alerted the others on the first floor.

"Mako?! Mako?!" Hisa called out and quickly ran up the stairs to the second floor.

"H-HELP ME!!!" Mako yelled as she tried struggling herself free from the creature.

"I'm going up there!" Yuuichi said, and then turned to Saki, Nodoka and Yuuki, who were frightened. "The three of you stay down here! Kyou-chan, you come with me!"

"Alright!" Kyoutaro said, following Yuuichi as he quickly ran up the stairway to the second floor. Upon reaching the second floor, they saw Hisa trying to pull the ghoul away from Mako but it was obviously much too strong for Hisa to handle by herself.

"Get your stinking hands off her you damn, dirty bastard!" Yuuichi rushed over to where Hisa, Mako and the ghoul were. Holding on to both ends of his pipe, Yuuichi wrapped it around the ghoul's body and pulled it away from Mako and stood up. Hisa helped Mako get back up to her feet and stepped back and they watched the ghoul struggling around while Yuuichi held it back with his pipe. The gray-skinned ghoul was a balding man with receding hair and thick friendly mutton chops, which were dark red. He had a white band around his head and was wearing a white shirt soaked with blood on the left shoulder and chest area. He had dirty brown pants on and was barefooted. The creature was none other than Master Daidara, a blacksmith who was well known to everyone in town. It growled ferociously as it turned its head left and right vigorously, trying to bite Yuuichi's hands, which were holding on to both ends of the pipe holding it back. Its teeth chomped loudly as its blood-caked mouth pulsed open and shut.

"Master Daidara…" Hisa mumbled as she held on to the badly shaken Mako.

"Not anymore…" Yuuichi said as he threw the ghoul face-first onto the floor.

"Kyou-chan. Smash its head with that hammer." Yuuichi said as he pinned the ghoul to the floor by pressing his lead pipe against its back. It struggled and growled ferociously, clawing on the wooden floorboards in an attempt to crawl away from Yuuichi's grip.

Kyoutaro clutched his hammer tightly and approached Yuuichi and the ghoul. With a worried look on his face, Kyoutaro gritted his teeth and raised his hammer reluctantly.

"Master Daidara was a family friend…" Kyoutaro muttered softly.

"This creature ISN'T Master Daidara!" Yuuichi yelled at Kyoutaro.

Kyoutaro raised his hammer, his childhood memories with Master Daidara flashed right before his eyes. The man who was so close to his family, the man who he had seen as an uncle was now one of those creatures. Fighting back tears forming in his eyes, Kyoutaro swiftly brought his hammer down to the head of the ghoul, which was violently trashing under Yuuichi and growling like a wild animal.

_SMASH!!!_

The first strike and the ghoul was still struggling.

_SMASH!!!_

The second strike. A resounding crack was heard.

_SMASH!!!_

The third strike and the ghoul's head smashed apart.

Yuuichi relaxed the force he applied on the creature. He stood up and looked at the body of the ghoul lying motionless on the floor, with a gaping hole at the back of its head and its cranial innards seeping out from the terrible wound. Yuuichi wiped the drops of blood splattered onto his face after Kyoutaro's hammer smashed the creature's head apart. His glasses were also stained so he had to wipe them with the bottom of his uniform. Yuuichi turned to Kyoutaro, walked up to him and placed his right hand onto his left shoulder to comfort him. Kyoutaro acknowledged Yuuichi's kindness and smiled weakly. He turned around, walked pass Hisa and Mako and down the stairs to the first floor. Yuuichi turned to Mako and quickly walked up to her. He clamped both hands onto her shoulders firmly.

"Someya-san… Are you alright?" Yuuichi asked, looking into Mako's eyes.

"Yes… Yes, I am…" Mako replied, looked into Yuuichi's eyes and nodded.

"Please… Don't ever do that again, okay?" Yuuichi said and embraced Mako tightly. The latter could only nod back at Yuuichi in response before embracing him tightly in return.

"Dear God…" Hisa muttered when she saw the badly mangled corpse Mako had seen before being attacked by the ghoul Daidara. The smell coming from it was terrible too.

"We better go down now…" Hisa said as she turned away from the sight of the corpse and walked down the stairs along with Mako and Yuuichi. "That sure was frightening."

"Those things shouldn't be underestimated. As mindless as those things may seem, being able to ambush a victim means they still have some intelligence left." Hisa told Mako and Yuuichi as the three of them continued walking down the stairs and back to the first floor.

"President, what happened up there?" Saki asked as soon as Hisa reached the first floor.

"Master Daidara attacked Mako…" Hisa replied. "And we were forced to destroy him."

"What used to be him, anyway." Yuuichi added. "He was about to bite Someya-san but we came just in time. Hisa tried pulling him away, but he was too strong and threw her off. I held him back with my pipe, threw him to the ground and pinned him down. I told Kyou-chan to kill him with his hammer. He was reluctant at first but eventually did it."

"But wasn't he your family friend, Kyou-chan?" Saki asked, patting Kyoutaro's back.

"No, that thing wasn't Master Daidara, Saki…" Kyoutaro sighed. "I saw a bite mark on his neck. I think he turned into one of them after he was bitten. I did what I had to do…"

_THUMP… THUMP… THUMP… THUMP…_

The ghouls outside were beating on the rolling shutter even louder. The shutter pushed inwards tried pushing their way through it to no avail. Their moaning and growling had gotten louder. Nodoka stood up from the stool she was sitting on. Yuuki ran up to Hisa and huddled herself behind the red-headed president. Yuuichi and Kyoutaro had their weapons gripped tightly. Mako stood next to Yuuichi while Saki held on to Nodoka.

"I think the noises we made upstairs must have aroused them." Hisa said to the others.

"President, I think we better get outta her as soon as possible." Mako told Hisa.

"Then we'll have to get out by the back exit. There's too many out front…" Hisa said.

_THUMP… THUMP… THUMP… THUMP…_

Everyone turned their heads to where the noise came from – the doorway to the passage leading to the back exit! A bead of sweat trickled down Hisa's temple. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth upon realizing that they were completely surrounded by those creatures, with both exits of the workshop there were hiding in being blocked by ghouls. Yuuki whimpered and huddled to Hisa tighter as tears streamed down her face, shivering. Saki and Nodoka hold on to each other tightly. Mako backed away to where the four girls were. The moaning of the creatures outside grew louder. Yuuichi and Kyoutaro stood in front of the girls, holding their respective weapons tightly in their hands.

"If those things manage to break in from the back, we have no choice but to fight them." Yuuichi said, gripping his lead pipe tightly.

"The four of you are my best friends. I'll make sure those creatures will never get their filthy hands on you guys." Kyoutaro said.

"Girls, there are two rooms upstairs. Go up and hide in one of the rooms, then lock the door and bar it shut with whatever you can find." Yuuichi said. "Kyou-chan and I will keep these motherfuckers busy. And don't you come down unless we tell you girls to!"

"B-But… But…" Hisa muttered.

"JUST GO!!!" Yuuichi bellowed.

"Just be careful…" Hisa muttered.

Hisa quietly lead the four other girls to the stairway, but Mako turned to look at Yuuichi. She was very reluctant to leave him down there with Kyoutaro to fight off the ghouls by themselves. Without hesitation, Mako ran up to Yuuichi, placed her hands firmly on his shoulders, stood on her toes and kissed him on his lips. Yuuichi was caught by surprise but eventually returned the kiss and deepened it. After parting their lips, Yuuichi looked into Mako's teary eyes. Placing his hands on her cheeks, he wiped Mako's eyes dry by using his thumbs and smiled at her.

"Yuuichi-kun…" Mako sobbed. "I love you…"

"I love you too," Yuuichi said. "Someya-san."

Pulling herself away from Yuuichi, Mako slowly walked back to the bottom of the stairs, where Hisa and the other girls were standing. Hisa was smiling, obviously happy for the both of them, the corners of her eyes glistening with tears. The other girls were sobbing quietly and even though he fought it, Kyoutaro's eyes got misty as well. Hisa walked up the stairs along with the girls.

"Good luck…" Hisa said. "Just be careful, okay?"

"We will, don't worry about us." Yuuichi smiled.

"Yeah, don't worry about us, Prez." Kyoutaro said.

As they were walking up the stairs, Hisa took out her handkerchief and instructed Yuuki to tie it around her eyes. They eventually disappeared from Yuuichi and Kyoutaro's view.

"Kyou-chan, are you ready?" Yuuichi asked.

"Yes." Kyoutaro replied. "How about you?"

"I'm readier than ready…" Yuuichi replied.

The both of them held on tightly to their weapons, and prepared themselves as they heard the sound of the back door breaking down, along with the boxes of scrap metal toppling onto the floor…

**Author's Notes:** I apologize for the long awaited update on my fanfiction. But to my fellow readers, I hope this chapter was worth the wait!

With our heroes in a tight situation, will Yuuichi and Kyoutaro be able to fight off the living dead as they break into the workshop? Will our heroes survive the attack? Will they finally find the mysterious person they were looking for? Find out in the next chapter! Read and review! Thanks!

P.S. As I mentioned in the author's notes section of chapter two, Inaba is heavily based on the town of the same name from the RPG game, Persona 4. The blacksmith, Master Daidara, was also based on the blacksmith of the same name who appears as one of the supporting characters in the game.


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